


Like You Could Be Family

by EthelPhantom



Series: The Family They Found [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Attempt at Humor, F/M, MariBat, Maribat Secret Santa 2019, Post-Hawk Moth Defeat, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:21:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21989452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EthelPhantom/pseuds/EthelPhantom
Summary: “Dick, are you seriously trying to model on the cheese shelf? I swear I’m going to disown you as soon as we get home— hey, miss, do you want a new embarrassing brother? You look like you could actually be family anyway.”Marinette stared at her wrist. Of all the things she was expecting to read on her skin once she turned 18, she wasn’t— itreallywas not, well, whatever the hellthiswas.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Bart Allen, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Jagged Stone, Penny Rolling/Jagged Stone, Tim Drake/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: The Family They Found [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1598767
Comments: 35
Kudos: 1274





	Like You Could Be Family

**Author's Note:**

> Hey look at me go and try my hand at Timari because Tim and Marinette are both my precious babies and I _will _fight for them to death ok__
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> _Yeah but anyway, this was the Secret Santa gift to worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry on tumblr. I'm not sure if they have an Ao3 account so I'm just not marking this as a gift, sorry._  
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> _I kind of might have taken a bit of liberties with the instructions but I couldn't help myself and needed to make Adrien/Bart a thing because damn they'd be so damn cute I can't. Like, two literal sunshines. Also, while I also adore Jondrien and originally meant to have this as that, I soon realised that hey, Jon is _Damian's _best friend, he's younger than _Damian _, and if I'm shipping Mari and Tim, well, that means Damian is too young and Jon is _way _too young. Obviously that wouldn't be okay. Turns out, Bart is a cute baby, fits Adrien perfectly, and I'd give my life for him now, thanks Crow. Let's hope I didn't fuck it up._______  
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> _Anyway, I hope you like this!_  
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_“Dick, are you seriously trying to model on the cheese shelf? I swear I’m going to disown you as soon as we get home— hey, miss, do you want a new embarrassing brother? You look like you could actually be family anyway.”_

Marinette stared at her wrist. Of all the things she was expecting to read on her skin once she turned 18, she wasn’t— it _really_ was not, well, whatever the hell _this_ was. 

She massaged her temples, trying to make sense of the sentence her soulmate would say to her as the first thing after today. She could _not_ believe that she wouls actually have to see someone modeling on the cheese shelf in a grocery store judging by how it all sounded like. 

Yeah… What if she just didn’t go on her trip to the States with Uncle Jagged like she had meant to? After all, the sentence was in English — in all likeliness, she was going to meet her soulmate there. Marinette most certainly was not ready. 

Then again, fate had a funny way of making things happen anyway, so it wasn’t like she could just _avoid_ it. Besides, she did want to meet her soulmate, so maybe she just should resign to her fate and go regardless of how much she was _not_ waiting for it to happen. 

So. Everyone got to see the first words their soulmate would say to them after their 18th birthday, and as it was, it was Marinette’s 18th birthday. She had earlier that day heard from Uncle Jagged that he was going to take her with him to the States to go around the country and to perhaps meet new people that might want to commission her or possibly sponsor her. It was very sweet of him and Marinette really did want to go with him — after all, she was finally able to travel since there was no longer a threat of akumas because Gabriel Agreste had been arrested; He could just rot in prison for all she cared because of how he had treated Adrien _and_ for endangering the entire City of Lights for so very long — but she _really_ was not ready to meet her soulmate, not so soon. 

_Especially not_ if this was how she was supposed to meet them instead of a peaceful, not so strange situation. 

But, as all things always went with Uncle Jagged, she gave into him and told her parents she would be gone for the summer at least. Maybe longer, since if she got enough commission work or someone to sponsor her, there was a chance she’s stay. Then there was the fact she might meet her soulmate, which also meant there was a chance she’d stay with them. 

Really, she just didn’t know if she would even come home after this or if she’d start a new home there, but she told her parents that too. Her maman and papa just smiled at her and embraced her, telling her that it was fine, that they would support her no matter what. She just needed to tell them where she was going to live so they could visit. 

And as she had guessed (and hoped), they were there too on the day she left, stood in front of the aeroport and told her their goodbyes and shed a few tears. They wanted to wait with her for her uncle. After all, she would be travelling with him and Aunt Penny. And Fang, obviously. One must never forget Fang. Oh, yes, she couldn’t leave Adrien out either — Uncle Jagged had insister he come with them since he was her best friend, his aunt had given the go-ahead when they asked after hearing Marinette was going as well, and he really didn’t have a family outside the Graham de Vanilys and Dupain-Chengs. 

Her parents hugged her and told her she would always be welcome home, as was Adrien, and that they loved her more than anything. Marinette smiled back and told them she was going to miss them. Then they — along with his aunt Amilie — made sure they hugged Adrien as well and told him he was like the son they never had (well, Amilie did not say that) and that they all loved him, too. Marinette was glad, seeing he now had a _family_ as well.

That’s how their journey began. 

Adrien was, as one might have guessed, excited about the trip. He hadn’t gotten out much in the years before this and now he was actually free from his father — no, just Gabriel; That man did not deserve the title of a father — and allowed to actually travel with his best friend and his idol. There was no Gabriel to stop him from actually _living_. He too had received a soulmark (“ _I doubt he would. So, your best friend is the soulmate of mine, huh? Wait… that’s weird, I could’ve almost sworn— It’s you??”_ ) a year earlier, on his eighteenth birthday, and as that too was in English, there was good chance they’d both meet their soulmates on the trip. The average age for meeting one’s soulmate tended to be between ages 10 and 23, after all. 

Thank god both of them had oddly specific things on their wrists; it would make recognising their soulmates a whole lot easier. 

They ended up visiting many beautiful cities (New York City, Los Angeles, Charlestown, Metropolis, Salt Lake City, St Louis and Portland) before Jagged decided he wanted to show his niece and her best friend his home city. Adrien was excited. Marinette was a little excited, but knowing Jagged, also suspicious. Penny tried her best to convince him out of it, but no. That did not help. 

(If you asked Marinette, it was because she was weak when it came to Jagged being actually excited about something, and since it wasn’t messing with any actual schedules, she ended up giving in to him.) 

And just like that, they were headed to Gotham. 

“Listen up kiddos! I managed to contact my friend whose oldest kids I used to take to different places to have fun whenever I could, and he says he’s got room for us all! How does that sound like to you?” he asked, basically bouncing on the balls of his feet as they were on their way towards the aeroport. He had switched to French to make it easier for them to talk about it — it was a big decision to make, after all. On one hand, that person was Uncle Jagged’s friend, and to both Marinette and Adrien that meant it was unlikely they were going to run into another Gabriel Agreste. On the other hand, in reality they knew _nothing_ about him and all those years spent as superheroes had taught them to be cautious of anything new. New could always be good, but the problem was, new could _also_ mean a bunch of evil butterflies attacking the city, possessing people and torturing absolutely everyone in the city for _years._

“Well, Chaton, it’s your call. I’m going to trust Uncle Jagged not to have chosen a serial killer to take us in—” Adrien snorted at that, “—but you’re the one who’s gone though more shittiness from rich people than I have, so yeah. I’m making this your choice. Please don’t feel pressured to say yes.”

Adrien looked thoughtful for a second before nodding. “Yes. I want this. I want to see new people that could maybe prove me wrong about what rich people are like.”

Marinette grinned. “That’s the spirit! Though, Chaton, I have to say, _you_ are a rich person, _Jagged_ is a rich person, _Kagami_ is a rich person. I think you’ve got rich and not horrible people around you as well, and all of them also happen to be close with you. But yeah, I think I get what you mean.”

Adrien punched her in the shoulder lightly, grinning back at her. Marinette almost had to cover her eyes because it looked like he was brighter than the sunshine itself as he beamed. 

Jagged seemed ecstatic to find out they wanted to try meeting his friend and spend time with said friend’s children. Penny rolled her eyes fondly at her husbands enthusiasm and excitement, but went along. After all, _someone_ needed to make sure all of them got there alive. 

Once they arrived at Gotham, Marinette was surprised to find the first thing they did was _not_ going to whoever Uncle Jagged had said was his friend but to go to a grocery store. 

To buy the ingredients to the favourite food of the mysterious friend was apparently the reason why. Marinette hoped the friend’s taste was better than Jagged’s, she could not handle another week of weird smelling, suspicious foods that Jagged wanted (thank heavens for Penny and the fact she had made ordering edible food an art of mastery.)

Marinette sighed, resigning to her fate. She snatched the shopping list from her uncle’s hands and dragged Adrien along before anyone could protest. “Alright, so we gotta get all of this… Could you please go find the vegetables? And actually the rice, too. I’ll text you which vegetables are needed in just a second, okay?”

Upon receiving a positive answer as Adrien nodded and walked off, Marinette went to search for the meat. It turned out to be a task more difficult than she would have liked to admit — the store was rather big and she didn’t even know where to start. 

Finally she found her way to the milk products, proud of herself since usually milk products were placed somewhere near the meat. It wasn’t good enough just yet, though, so once she noticed a small group of guys goofing around ( _This is what it means boys will be boys,_ she thought _, not when they don’t leave a girl alone even after she tells them no_ ). She was just about to ask them if they knew where the meat was when she saw one of them walk to one of the shelves and lie down, propping one leg up as he posed himself to look like he was…

_Modeling._

_God_ , did Marinette wish this was not was she thought it was. 

Marinette sighed and walked closer to them, watching as one of the shorter ones in the group groaned and buried his face in his hands. “Dick, are you _seriously_ trying to model on the _cheese shelf_ ?” he asked. Marinette’s eyes widened but she walked even closer, not sure if she really had heard right. She _needed_ to know whether she’d heard him right. “I swear, I’m going to disown you as soon as we get home—” The man turned around and looked Marinette up and down before putting a smile on his face. Then he walked to her and spoke as though what he was saying was _completely normal and not weird at all_. “Hey, miss, do you want a new embarrassing brother? You look like you could actually be family anyway.”

The man still lying on the shelf laughed. “You’re right about that, Timmers. Blalck hair and blue eyes, fits the picture. We gotta keep Bruce from adopting her somehow. You don’t happen to have a tragic backstory, kid?”

Marinette was still staring at them in shock, mouth hanging slightly open before she took a quick glance at her wrist. Indeed. She had heard right. Then she looked at the man who had first spoken to her and, summoning willpower and confidence she didn’t even know she had right now, spoke up. “I don’t think disowning him is even necessary to make him my brother, and it seems there’s a chance we might become family regardless of whether this Bruce adopts me or not,” she blurted out, grimacing at her strong accent. She knew she spoke better and with cleared English, but the shock of meeting her soulmate had her relapse to the accent of her natice tongue. 

All of the laughter quieted down as though _cut off_ and their smiles fell, all four of them now looking at her like they had seen a ghost. The first to recover was a guy a little taller than her with auburn hair and — were those eyes _yellow_ ? — whose smile was probably brighter than what she’d ever seen on _Adrien_ , and well. Adrien was the literal sunshine _personified._ She had barely even managed to blink before he was standing in front of her, having shoved her soulmate away. 

“It’s great to meet you, miss! We were wondering already when we’d get to meet you, if he’d try to hide you from us or if he’d let us meet you right away,” he said laughing and winked. “Turns out, we got to meet you at the same time as he did! I’m Bart!”

With a light tilt of her head, Marinette smiled back at him. “Marinette, it’s lovely to meet you as well.”

The man still lying on the shelf was the second to collect himself (the other two guys who weren’t her soulmate seemed to recover as soon as he got up, but both of them stayed silent). He stood up ( _god_ he was tall, she didn’t deserve this. Marinette seriously wished the rest of the family would not be as tall so she wouldn’t need to look up to be able to talk to them easily — she had enough of that with Adrien) and was in front of her with a few graceful strides. He too greeted her with a smile on his face.

“Name’s Richard, though I have to say, _please do not call me that_ . Especially family should call me Dick. And, since you’re apparently the soulmate of Timmy here, welcome to the family. I’m his oldest big brother, and that scowling kid ( _“I’m not a kid, Grayson!”_ ) over there is our little brother, Damian. There are a whole lot more of us though, but you’ll meet them later ( _“Not if I can help it she won’t”_ ). Actually. You don’t happen to be free tonight, do you? We’re having dinner with the whole family for a change today, it’d be great to have you there as well.”

“You are aware Father invited his old friend and his companions to the manor today, aren’t you, Grayson?” the scowling kid — Damian, wasn’t he? — asked from behind them, arms crossed over his chest. 

“Well, yes, but I strongly doubt Bruce would mind at all if we invited Timmy’s soulmate over as well. His freaking _soulmate_ , Damian. It’s more likely that he will be happy we did so.”

“Er, I’m sorry, but my uncle wants me to be with him, his wife and my best friend today,” Marinette said, hopefully cutting off whatever argument was starting to form between the two. She was still standing in the same place, not completely sure how to act. She had _never_ thought there would be this many people who were important in her soulmate’s life near at once. It was overwhelming — after all, it meant she had to manage to make a good first impression right away. 

The last of them, the one who had yet to speak, was still staring at her, though now he no longer looked like he was shocked to see her. No, now he was scowling, glaring, looking like he was examining her. Marinette took a step away from him and closer to her soulmate unconsciously, her eyes never leaving him. Yet another thing years of fighting villains had taught her: do not let your guard down near people that looked even the slightest bit threatening — which this guy definitely look like. 

She really wished she didn't need to be alone here. 

“Maribug! What are you standing around for?”

Thank _heavens_ for Adrien and his timing. 

Adrien threw an arm around her shoulders and leaned forwards a little, whispering “I’m sorry it took so long to get here, my hearing and smell aren’t as good when in this form. Did they try to do anything to you?” in French. 

She found it sweet that once he’d understood why flirting with her so much was not okay, he’d researched sexual harassment thoroughtly and now was quick to act and make sure she was okay if things ever looked like there was even the slightest chance someone was harassing her, just like she did with him and his fangirls (especially Lila.) Dear god did she love her best friend. 

“No, there’s no problem. Thanks Chaton”, she replied, shaking her head. Adrien squeezed her lightly before he let go, now apparently having a staredown with the kind of scary guy. Marinette let out a quiet laugh before tugging him by the hand to look the other way, to her soulmate. “Adrien, I’d like you to meet my soulmate,” she said, easily switching back to English. That seemed to finally shake him — she recalled Dick calling him Timmy and Timmers, so his name was probably Tim — out of his trance. He shook his head and stretched his hand out to Adrien. 

“Hi. I think I might’ve seen you before somewhere. I’m Tim, her soulmate,” he said, smiling at the two of them. 

“I’m Adrien, her best friend. You better take good care of her.”

“ _Adrien!_ ”

Tim just laughed. “It’s fine, I suppose mine will try to have that conversation with you later as well. I’m sorry, I didn’t introduce myself to you earlier either. Like said, I’m Tim Drake, it’s wonderful to meet you. I love your outfit, is it an MDC?”

Okay, wow. He recognised her outfit as an MDC — which, of course, was her own brand so it just meant she’d made her clothes herself, but it wasn’t like she had made her identity public information yet anyway. This guy was a keeper. “Ah, yes, it is! How did you know?”

Now that he had made it clear he knew who MDC was, she started examining his outfit for anything familiar — of, wait, his shirt. She’d made it as a commission as few years back. She was also pretty sure that the hoodie Bart was sporting was from her autumn line based on superheroes from last year. 

Adrien shot her a knowing look and a smirk which had her want to just flip him off before he turned to look at Bart who was making his way to Adrien. 

“The signature on the hem kind of revealed it,” Tim replied. 

Marinette arched an eyebrow. “But it’s almost invisible. It couldn't be that easy.”

“I know how to look for details. I love MDC by the way, I have a few of her designs as well.”

“I noticed. The shirt is hers, isn’t it?”

“Yeah! I commissioned it from her a while… back…” Tim’s voice trailed off. “... _how exactly_ did you realise it was hers? I know for a fact the signature is hidden _and_ on the flip side, so that cannot be it.”

It seemed Adrien had been listening to their conversation instead of talking with Bart as it didn’t take him even a second to chime in. “Yeah, that’s because she _made it_. Oh, and I might look familiar because I tend to model most of MDC’s — Marinette’s — designs for men for her website. If you like MDC and are that familiar with her work, that’s probably were you’d know me.”

“Well, there goes that secret. Hi, I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng, better known as MDC. I’m glad to hear you like my designs.”

“Wait. Timmers, you got _MDC_ as your soulmate? That is so _unfair_ ,” Dick said, leaning against Tim’s shoulder. 

Tim didn’t even grace that with a reply. He was — once again — staring at Marinette, his mouth hanging open. It was a miracle he’d even managed to shove Dick away. Marinette just smiled sheepishly and shrugged, letting her gaze wander to the side and the suddenly _very interesting_ floor. 

The man who still had said nothing walked to them, placed a finger under Tim’s chin and closed it. “He’s just a big fan — as is a big portion of their family, apparently — couldn’t stop talking about how ‘amazing it was that MDC accepted his commission’ at all for weeks at the time. Hi, I’m Conner, also one of his best friends. You better treat him well, or…”

“Yeah, that’s enough, Kon, let’s not threaten her too much so she won’t run away. I think he’d probably like to keep her,” Dick snorted. “You can give her the shovel talk once they start dating — _if_ they start dating, that is.”

Marinette didn’ t know what to say, so she just kept silent and smiled, instead opting to listen to Adrien talking with Bart next to her. It helped her ground a little, knowing her best friend was right there with her. 

“Nah, sure I love her, but just platonically. She’s my best friend, like a sister to me, so he doesn’t need to worry about me coming in between them. Well, unless he hurts her, that is.”

In front of her, Conner stopped talking with Dick and turned to look at the two. Tim did the same. Marinette soon understood why, as well. 

“I doubt he would,” Bart replied, an obvious smile echoing in his voice. “So, your best friend is the soulmate of mine, huh?” Marinette’s smile fell and she turned to look at her best friend, who seemed to recognise the far too familiar words coming out of Bart’s mouth as well. Bart was looking at his wrist, now mumbling. “Wait… that’s weird, I could’ve almost sworn—” Then his gaze snapped to Adrien. “It’s you??”

“Oh mon dieu.”

“ _Oh mon dieu vraiment._ ”

With a quick glance, it seemed that everyone was now looking at Adrien and Bart. There was a smile growing on both their faces, though it was there far faster on Bart’s definitely. Grinning, Adrien turned to Marinette. 

He grabbed her by the shoulders and started speaking in rapid-fire French. Understandable, it _was_ much easier to both of them to deal with feelings in. “I cannot believe this! We _both_ got to meet our soulmates on this trip, almost _at the same time_ , and in _Gotham_ of all places! I swear this was the _last place_ I would have expected to find them at and I am so happy about this and _just look at him_ he’s so adorable and precious I can’t even! I have known him for all of three minutes but I already love him. Oh my god, Jagged is not going to believe this—”

“Oh my god, Uncle Jagged. And I forgot the meat. We have to hurry, we can’t let him and Penny _and_ his friend wait for us too long. _Please_ tell me you didn’t forget anything I asked you to find.” Thankfully, Adrien shook his head. 

Of course she had forgotten something. Now, it meant that she was starting to panic. “I am _so_ very sorry, but I forgot that I was supposed to find ingredients for my uncle and I have to go now. I’m so sorry. We’ll still be in Gotham for some time, maybe I’ll run into you later again? Bye!” And with that, she dragged Adrien with her, leaving both her and Adrien’s soulmates behind. Adrien just waved to them before running beside her.

 _She left them behind having completely forgotten about asking for any means to contact any of them_. 

This she, obviously, only realised when she was in the car with Uncle Jagged, Aunt Penny and Adrien, already on their way to Jagged’s friend. 

“I cannot _believe_ I forgot to ask for his number or _anything_ . I had to clear my inbox a while back, too, so it’s going to take me ages to find even his email address,” she moaned and buried her face in her hands. Adrien just patted her head, trying to comfort her. Yeah, that’s right, she had dragged Adrien away from _his_ soulmate as well. That made her even worse. 

“Wait, who are you talking about, kid? Whose number did you forget to ask? A potential new client?” Jagged asked, confused about what his niece was on about. 

Marinette lifted her head for a moment to answer him. There were tear streaks on her face, she realised, when the air was a little too cool at only some places on her cheeks and hands. “No, my _soulmate’s_ . I finally met him but then I realised I was late and Adrien met his soulmate as well but I just dragged him away too and oh god I’m _such a horrible friend_.” Then she let her head fall into her hands again. 

“You met your _soulmates_? In Gotham?” Jagged gasped. “I’m so happy you met them here.”

“Jagged, you do realise this is _Gotham_ , one of the most crime-ridden cities in the world, right?”

“But Penny, I’m sure these kiddos’ soulmates aren’t bad! They are so pure, not even fate would be so cruel! Anyway, kid, you should have stayed with him or asked him to join us! There’s nothing as rock and roll as meeting your soulmate! I would have been fine with waiting for you so you could get his number.”

“His brother actually asked me to come over to his place and have a dinner with his family. I said no because I was supposed to come with you to your friend’s place.”

“You should’ve said yes, Mari! I could have told Bruce you weren’t able to come ‘cuz you met your soulmate and he would’ve been okay with it!”

“What’s done is done, Uncle Jagged. Can we forget about this now? I want to wallow in self-pity.”

Adrien just shook his head and took her hands to his. “No, and you’re not a bad friend, Buginette. I know how you get like when things start becoming hectic, but one, I’m already used to it, and two, maybe we’ll see him again. He lives here and he told you his name, didn’t he? And you told him yours? You can probably try to find him tomorrow. I’m sure you will. And, once you find him, I’ll get to mine as well because he said they were best friends. There’s really _nothing_ to worry about, Mari.”

“You’re way too good for me. I don’t deserve you.”

“Yes you do. Now take this tissue, dry your face and we can go inside.”

Oh. They’d already arrived at the manor Jagged’s friend lived in. Marinette took the tissue Adrien handed her, wiped the tears off her face and then stepped out of the car, Adrien following right behind her. There was a man with a white streak in his otherwise black hair waiting at the door, a cigar in his hands. 

“Hi Jagged. B said you were coming soon. Get in. It’s a little chaotic right now, babybird apparently met his soulmate and then lost her just about immediately, so he also invited his friends over,” the man said, drawing a breath out of his cigar. It seemed he recognised Jagged immediately, which was probably a good sign. 

“Seems like we’er not the only ones with soulmate problems today,” Adrien whispered to her. Marinette just nodded. While she wasn’t one to take joy in others’ problems, she was kind of a little glad to hear that they weren’t the only ones who had to suffer with them right now. 

“Well, hello Jay-lad, you’re alive again!” Jagged exclaimed as though _being alive again was totally normal_ and squeezed the man. What the hell. When Marinette looked at Penny, hoping for some sort of an explanation for this, she just shrugged. “Great to see you’ve grown into a big boy now. These are Marinette and Adrien, my niece and her best friend. Oh, and Penny, my wife.”

“Oh give it a rest, won’t you, I wasn’t actually that small back then either. Where’s Fang?”

“Left him in my brother’s care.”

“The one that works at Arkham?”

“That one. He said he’s gonna take him with him to work today.”

“Great, let’s hope he bites Joker’s head or at least hand off. But yeah, good to see you’ve gotten yourself a family now so you don’t need to borrow me or Dick to have children anymore. Now, get in, it’s not too warm a night.” Once Adrien and Marinette got near him, he nodded as greeting. “I’m Jason, B’s second son and the kid Jagged used to borrow every now and then when he wanted to take a kid to concerts or the amusement park or somethin’.”

Adrien snorted next to Marinette who just chuckled. “Sounds like something Uncle Jagged would totally do. He basically adopted me as his niece after I designed him an atrocious pair of glasses,” Marinette laughed. “And Adrien got in because his father is an ass, and my family has joint custody of him with his aunt, which then led to Jagged wanting to take him with us as well.”

“Of course he did. Only Jagged and B would, I swear. Only them.”

They followed Jason inside (Jagged had already taken the liberty to just march in like he owned the place and announce he was back in Gotham, dragging Penny with him), marvelling at how gorgeous and beautiful everything looked. Even Adrien, who had grown up in a similar house, did, perhaps because while this manor was as big (if not far bigger) and just about as decorated as the Agreste Mansion had been, this was also warm and felt like home, like someone actually _lived_ there instead of just… _occupying_ the space. It was amazing. 

A broad-shouldered man walked to them to welcome them in. It was probably B (Bruce? Marinette was pretty sure that was what Jagged had called him), based on how Jason greeted him, punching him lightly in the shoulder while he just ruffled Jason’s hair. 

“It’s wonderful to meet the family Jagged speaks so fondly of finally. I’m Bruce Wayne. Come inside, I’d like you two to meet my children,” he said, smiling warmly at the two of them. Adrien was a little wary, but followed him anyway, never leaving Marinette’s side and his hand in hers. It wasn’t surprising and Marinette didn’t judge him for it — after all, as far as Adrien was aware, this man could be just like Gabriel (even if by all likelihood he wasn’t). 

Jason snorted behind them. “He speaks of his children like there are only a handful of us instead of like, a million, like there in reality are. He’s a serial adopter, I swear. Be careful or he adopts the both of you — Blonde sounds like he has a tragic backstory, and you have at the very least the blue eyes and black hair.”

Marinette rolled her eyes, somewhat ready to meet new people. But, once they actually got to the living room, they weren’t met with a bunch of unfamiliar faces, no. Instead, Marinette immediately recognised four of them, one of which was her soulmate. 

_How else. Fate had a funny way of doing things, making sure you couldn't avoid your soulmate._

Not that she wasn’t glad about it for this once. 

Bart looked up and basically appeared next to Adrien — how fast was he anyway? — who then immediately hugged him. Well. If Bart was here and he was indeed every bit the precious sunshine he seemed to be and Adrien claimed he was, Marinette could safely leave Adrien to him. She squeezed Adrien’s hand once more before making her way towards Tim who met her halfway. 

She smiled sheepishly at him. “Sorry, I kind of tend to get stuck in my head when things start to get hectic and forgot to ask you for your contact information,” she chuckled, tilting her head. 

Tim just smiled at her, arching an eyebrow. “Well, we got to meet this soon anyway, so I think I can forgive you that this once.”

“Hey!”

He just laughed at her and crossed his arms over his chest. “Besides, you told me you were MDC — I would have been able to get in contact with you rather easily,” he reminded her. 

Oh yeah. That too. 

“It’s wonderful to meet you again, Tim. I can’t wait to get to know you better.”

“You took the words right out of my mouth, Marinette. I’m glad I got to meet you, soulmate.”

Marinette opened her arms slightly, and once Tim nodded and she got the go-ahead, she hugged him tight. Glancing at her wrist and the odd words written on it, the corners of her lips quirked upwards. 

Perhaps, perhaps it wasn’t that bad to have “Dick, are you seriously trying to model on the cheese shelf? I swear I’m going to disown you as soon as we get home— hey, miss, do you want a new embarrassing brother? You look like you could actually be family anyway.” written on her body permanently. 

_After all, those words led her to the young man called TIm she could already tell was a wonderful person, and later on, Marinette couldn't have been happier to call him her beloved soulmate._

**Author's Note:**

> So, yeah, that was something? I suppose? 
> 
> I do not know how this went from the supposed 1,5k words to, well, 5,5k. I hope you guys are happy though. Also I have a piece of art I made for this [here](https://ethelphantom.tumblr.com/post/189904981291/like-you-could-be-family)(just scroll to the end of the post, you'll find it there.)
> 
> Do come scream at me on my [tumblr](https://ethelphantom.tumblr.com/) if you feel like it!


End file.
